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Career Day
"Career Day" is the 1st segment in the 6th episode of the first season of Invader Zim. It first premiered on May 4, 2001, on Nickelodeon. Plot Summary Ms. Bitters is assigning students their mentors for Career Day through the use of an aptitude test and a machine. Both Dib and Zim attempt to get their desired professions on the test, leading Dib to get paired with a Paranormal Investigator named Bill, while Zim gets stuck working at a MacMeaties. However, when Zim misinterprets the "8 Billion Served" sign and thinks that the individuals in charge of the company are the leaders of the planet, he becomes dedicated to his job in hopes of being promoted to "Lord of All Humans". Unfortunately, thanks to the alignment of the planets during an event known as the Galactic Equinox, any aliens not on their home planet (including Zim) go through a hideous molt. Dib discovers this as Zim progressively develops a repulsive and itchy acne-like rash on his neck, and tries to get Bill to McMeaties in time to see the transformation. Unfortunately for Dib, Bill is more concerned with chasing after Count Cocofang, a cereal box mascot. Zim tries to get off work before 5:00 pm, when the equinox occurs, but is afraid of not getting promoted and stays on duty. At 5:00 pm, Zim goes through his revolting molt, causing chaos inside the restaurant, but it goes unnoticed by Bill, who is trying to stake a man dressed as Count Cocofang. When the molt ends, Zim is fired for destroying the restaurant and "Cocofang" gets away. Facts of Doom Cultural References *The device that Bill uses to examine the crop circle in this episode is somewhat similar to the device used to identify alien species in Men in Black. *Bill was designed after Agent Smith, the main antagonist of The Matrix film franchise. *The restaurant MacMeaties is a reference to the popular fast food chain McDonald's. *Count Cocofang and the cereal, Cocosplodies, in this episode is a reference to the Count Chocula brand cereal. Trivia *In the beginning of the episode, Melvin claims that he wants to be an astronaut. Melvin actually stated this same goal in the pilot, but was ridiculed by both Ms. Bitters and Zim. *The fourth wall is broken in the beginning of this episode. When the camera pans to Dib, who begins to say what he's going to be when he grows up, the camera slowly turns to Melvin, after which Dib says "Hey, I wasn't finished yet!". *Mr. Elliot, Gaz's teacher seen in "Parent Teacher Night", is in the crowd of people waiting outside the classroom at the beginning of the episode. This suggests that one student is going to be a teacher. *The MacMeaties in this episode is different than in past episodes because Jhonen Vasquez disliked the way it looked in "Germs". An in-universe explanation was originally meant to be given in the unfinished episode "Return of Keef", in which it would have been revealed that there were four MacMeaties in The City. Two in Maple, one in Haverford, and another one in Greenbush. *Bill said that the galactic equinox would cause the galaxies to line up, though the planets merely lined up when the event actually occurred. *Zim's placement as a fast food employee is ironic, considering that he was re-encoded as a Food Service Drone and spent some time before Operation Impending Doom II doing hard labor on Foodcourtia. **Additionally, it is odd that Zim is completely ignorant about fast food services, seeing as he worked on Shloogorgh's Flavor Monster. However, he could've blocked it out, since he claimed that "everything was coming back to him" when Sizz-Lorr kidnapped him in The Frycook What Came from All That Space. **This episode foreshadows the fact that Zim's PAK has him encoded as a food service drone, later confirmed in "The Frycook What Came from All That Space". *This is the second time in the series in which neither GIR nor Zim's Base appears. *This is one of the few episodes where Zim wears his human disguise for the whole episode. *While Dib did get the job he wanted, ironically he was paired off with Bill, who by all accounts makes a mockery of the profession of a Paranormal Investigator. Dib continued to follow his dream in "The Sad, Sad Tale of Chickenfoot". *Beginning with this episode, the teeth of Irkens are drawn rounded rather than rectangular. *There was a file on Frankenchokey which Bill believed to be a real monster. In "Gaz, Taster of Pork", it was revealed to be the mascot of the cereal Franken Chokies. Changes and Cuts *Bruce Campbell, the actor who played Ash Williams in the Evil Dead film franchise, was originally supposed to voice Bill in the episode.107 Invader Zim Facts Everyone Should Know- (ToonedUp #170) | ChannelFrederator at YouTube However, this never happened and Adam Paul was cast instead. Things You Might Have Missed *Old Kid can be seen in the mob of kids surrounding Count Cocofang. *When Bill and Dib first drive into the farmlands, animal sounds are heard, then a loud thud, implying that Bill had possibly hit one of them with his car. *Second time Steve Ressel makes a cameo. The first was in "Germs". *If you look closely at Cocofang's billboard, you can see that his cereal is called "Choco Sploodges". Inconsistencies and Animation Errors *Near the beginning of the episode when Ms. Bitters proclaims "...all dreams inevitably end in implosions" the alphabet above the chalkboard is missing the letter "T" but then moments later, while handing out the blot test, the alphabet is seen with all letters (including "T"). *At the very beginning of the episode, when Brian says he wants to be a doctor, you can see Melvin behind him with GIR's nose. In the next shot, however, it's back to normal. *Gaz can be seen amongst the crowd of people with a security guard from "Battle-Dib", despite the fact that she isn't in Ms. Bitters's class. However, it's likely that her class could've been doing the aptitude test as well. *Before the skoolchildren take the test, the clock says it's 13:00, but after Ms. Bitters passes out the tests, the clock reads 10:00. *When one of the kids says, "Hey! No cutting!", his lips aren't moving. Music *Dib Meets Mentor *Galactic Equinox *The Count *Zim's Goo See also *Career Day (Transcript) *Career Day/Screenshots References es:Orientación vocacional Category:Season 1 Category:Episodes Category:Screenshots